Contributor

Martin J. Blank

Senior Fellow, Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for Educational Leadership

Marty is the Founding Director and now Senior Fellow at the Coalition for Community Schools, which is staffed by the Institute for Educational Leadership. The Coalition is an alliance that brings together leaders and organizations in education, family support, youth development, early childhood, community development, government and philanthropy. Partners advocate for schools as centers of their communities where school and community resources are organized to support student success, strengthen families and build healthier communities. Martin J. Blank also formerly served as President of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) in Washington, DC. He led IEL in its efforts to build the capacity of people, organizations and systems -- in education and related fields -- to cross boundaries and work together to attain better results for children and youth. Marty has been associated with IEL since 1985, focusing his work on building bridges between schools and other institutions with assets that can support student success. Marty is the co-author of Making the Difference: Research and Practice in Community Schools and Together We Can: A Guide for Crafting a Pro-family System of Education and Human Services. He was Project Director for the preparation of Learning Together, a comprehensive map of the revitalized community schools movement across the country. Marty stays involved with local activities in the District of Columbia. He is the former Chair of D.C. VOICE an education reform collaborative and of the Management Team of the Early Childhood Collaborative. He has a B.A. from Columbia University, 1965, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and served as a VISTA Volunteer in the Missouri Bootheel.